Ornamental lighting fixture



July 21, 1970 G. w. FowLER 3,52L048 ORNAMENTAL LIGHTING FIXTURE n Filed Oct. 4, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 21, 1970 G. w. FQWLER 3,52i,048

ORNAMENTAL LIGHTING FIXTURE Filed Oct. 4. 1967 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent Olhce 3,521,048 Patented July 21, 1970 3,521,048 ORN AMENTAL LIGHTING FIXTURE Gary W. Fowler, Salem, Oreg., assiguor of one-half to Raymond Gunn, Jr., Salem, Oreg. Filed Oct. 4, 1967, Ser. No. 672,881 Int. Cl. F21p 5 00 U.S. Cl. 240-3 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A post lantern having a bottom wall, four upwardly diverging corner posts permanently secured to the bottom wall, a frame permanently interconnecting the top ends of the corner posts and a roof removably secured t the frame. The bottom wall and roof have Ventilating openings therethrough since a gas burner, an oil lamp, or a candle may be used to provide illumination. The lantern has four side walls each comprising a frame defined by permanently interconnected cames and of a size 'to fit within the space between the corner posts and the bottom wall and top frame of the lantern. Each Wall is made of random pieces of stained glass of various colors connected to the carnes of the frame and interconnected in artistic arrangement by dividing cames within the frame. A temperature responsive binding agent is applied to and confined Within the cames for uniting the pieces therewith in a manner to allow expansion and contraction due to changes in ambient interior temperatures of the lamp or in exterior atmospheric temperatures.

This invention yrelates generally to lighting fixtures and more particularly to an outdoor post lantern usually mounted upon a pipe or post adjacent residential sidewalks, garden spots and other areas for useful as well as artistic illumination.

The principal objects of the invention are:

To provide a fixture of the character described wherein the illumination is derived from a gas burner, electric light bulb, or other suitable source, within a housing whose walls are of art glass panel construction comprising random pieces of variously colored stained glass to define readily distinct luminous configurations which are pleasing, colorful and decorative.

To provide a unique luminary whose size, shape or elevation from the ground can be readily varied to accommodate a given situation.

To provide a lantern housing wherein each of the stained glass wall panels is separate and distinct from the others and individually supported and stabilized Within the lamp housing against displacement by wind pressure or other external impact forces but at the same time readily removable individually.

To provide a luminary whose housing may readily be mounted on a post or pipe or removed therefrom.

To provide panels so that broken parts easily may be removed and replaced by other parts of the same or different colors.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof and in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of an ornamental lighting fixture made in accordance with my invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary elevational view on an enlarged scale of a typical housing panel except for the particular shape and arrangement of the art glass pieces which may be varied as aforesaid.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary top plan view of the bottom wall of the lamp housing and sectional views of typical wall panels supported by corner posts of the housing.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary elevational View of a typical corner post of the lamp housing.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the lamp housing frame structure.

FIG. 8 is a typical side elevational View of the roof for the lamp housing with a fragment broken away t0 illustrate one means of attaching the roof to the housing frame, and

FIG. 9 is a similar view of a modified form of roof and roof attachment.

With continuing reference to the drawings wherein like reference numerals designate like parts, numeral 1 indicates generally a lamp made in accordance with my invention and supported upon and removably secured to the top end of a pipe 2 by a collar 3 and set screw 4.

The pipe 2 may be of any desired height and is preferably of hollow tubular form. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 the pipe is connected by a T-tting 5 to and in open communication with an underground supply line 6 of natural or artificial gas from a valve-controlled source, not shown.

The interior of the lamp housing (FIG. 3) is provided with any suitable means of illumination such, for instance, as the gas mantle indicated generally at 8 mounted upon the bottom wall 10 of the housing and fed by fuel from the pipe 2 or a feed line extending upwardly through the pipe.

Since the dominant features of the invention resides in the lamp structure and art glass wall assemblage, it is to 4be understood that I do not wish to be limited to the means of illumination since obviously any form of internal illumination may be utilized, such as an electric light bulb, oil lamp, and perhaps a candle if desired or necessary in some locations Where the other facilities are not available.

The typical wall of the lamp shown fragmentarily in FIG. 2 is made up of random pieces of variously colored art glass indicated at 12. The glass pieces are assembled in panel formation by cames 15 and secured between the came flanges by an adhesive 16 having the characteristics of cream which may be readily brushed along both sides of the came webs 18.

The adhesive consists of a mixture of 50 percent metal sash putty, 25 percent plaster of Paris, and 25 percent crushed limestone, obtainable on the open market under the trade name of Whiting. The adhesive hardens when cold and softens in the presence of heat and therefore is expansible.

Each glass panel assembled as aforesaid is mounted within a frame 19 of came members, as shown.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 7, the bottom wall 10 of the lamp housing has any desired number of vent openings 20 therethrough and is flanged upwardly as at 21 along its four sides. Corner posts 22 are then spotwelded as at 23 to the inside corners of flanges 21. Each corner post is of angle section, and as best illustrated in FIG. 6, provided with spring clips 25 spot Welded to the inside of the flanges of the post in alternate positions of projection for holding engagement with the frames 19 of the glass panel assemblies or, if desired, clips could be struck inwardly from the angle flanges and bent into holding engagement with the panel frames. Each frame 19 is further stabilized by placement of its bottom rim between the flange 21 of the bottom wall 10 and the adjacent angle section 30 secured in any suitable manner to the bottom wall.

The roof 31 for the lamp housing, as shown in FIGS 1 and 8, is of generally pyramidal form in elevation and has a vent opening 32 at its apex provided with a domeshaped cover 33, slightly elevated for Ventilating purposes. This roof, as best shown in FIG. 8, is bent downwardly along its four bottom margins to provide iianges 34.

The top end of each corner post 22 is spot-welded to its respective inside corner of a solid top frame 39 whose four sides (FIG. 7) are of angle section with the horizontal flange 40' of each cut inwardly as at 41 to provide lugs 42 having threaded apertures 43 therethrough and adapted to be bent upwardly on an angle complementary to that of the pitch of the roof 31 and bolted to the roof as at 45.

In the modification shown in FIG. 9 Where the top of the roof 31A is without a vent opening, ventilation is provided through the spacing between the roof when held elevated from the frame 39 by the lugs 42A being bent upwardly to a greater extent than the lugs 42 in FIG. 8.

From the foregoing and the fact that the adhesive 16 which unites the glass pieces 12 and their cames in panel formation is expansible in the presence of heat, it will be readily understood that the various components may eX- pand when subjected to elevated temperatures within the lamp housing from any type of a heat generating source of light.

It will also be seen that any one or all of the wall panels may be quickly and conveniently removed from the interior of the lamp housing by merely bending the clips 25 out of engagement with the sides of the wall frames 19 and by slight upward lift of the walls to clear the angle sections 30 of the bottom wall 10 of the housmg.

What I claim is:

1. In a post lantern comprising a ventilated housing, for a flaming light, having a bottom wall, corner posts secured to said bottom wall diverging upwardly therefrom and secured to a top frame, and a roof removably secured to said top frame, the improvement comprising:

individual stained glass wall panels supported upon said bottom wall of the housing,

each of said wall panels defined by permanently interconnected cames,

means integral with said corner posts bent inwardly into gripping engagement with said cames for holding said walls against the corner posts,

means secured to said bottom wall of the housing parallel to said panels cooperating with said corner post integral means for stabilizing said panels against external impact forces,

each of said wall panels made of random'pieces of stained glass of various colors connected to the cames of the frames and interconnected in artistic arrangement by dividing cames within the frames, and

a yieldable temperature responsive binding agent applied to and confined within the cames for attaching said glass pieces thereto to enable expansion and contraction of the pieces relative to each other and said frames due to changes in ambient interior temperatures of the housing or in exterior atmospheric temperatures.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 274,948 4/ 1883 Farge 161-5 X 1,101,026 6/1914 Hussey 24U-1.1 1,201,108 10/1916 Smith 240-84 X 1,612,054 12/1926 Rez 161-37 X 3,094,286 6/1963 Harling 240-47 X 3,184,586 5/1965 Hammes et al 240-47 X- 3,321,619 5/1967 Dailey 240-3 X NORTON ANSHER, Primary Examiner R. L. MOSES, Assistant Examiner l Us. c1. X.R. 24o-11.2, 47, s4 

